SAN DIEGO -- Kazuma Okamoto has tied Shohei Ohtani for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player in their rookie season in Major League history, launching his 22nd Friday night in the series opener vs. the Padres at Petco Park.
When your name shows up in the same sentence as Ohtani’s, you’re typically walking on rare ground. Tying an Ohtani rookie record before we even reach the All-Star break, though? What an accomplishment for Okamoto, the brightest star in an otherwise underwhelming season for the Blue Jays.
Ohtani hit 22 in 2018 with the Angels, his age-23 season. It wasn’t until 2021, when Ohtani was 26, when he truly broke out offensively and hit 46 home runs en route to winning his first MVP Award.
Like nearly all of Okamoto’s previous home runs, it was a towering, majestic blast out to left field. The three-run shot broke the game open for the Blue Jays, putting them ahead, 5-2, after they’d fallen behind early.
In any season, Okamoto’s offensive numbers would be spectacular and he’s fully deserving of being named to the All-Star Game as a rookie, but the context of the Blue Jays’ season makes this even more important. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is stuck at five home runs in July, George Springer hasn’t been his 2025 self, and this club has spent long stretches without Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger. If it weren’t for Okamoto, the Blue Jays may not even be involved in the Wild Card picture at this point.
His 22 home runs are more than double Springer’s nine, who is second place on the team. Okamoto is nearly lapping the field in RBIs, too, his 62 easily leading all Blue Jays. Guerrero (38) and Andrés Giménez (37) trail behind him.
Soon enough, this record will belong to Okamoto alone, and it could be up to him to set a new bar for all of the Japanese rookies that come after him. He’ll have some competition from Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox, who’s at 20 homers and a rookie himself at 26 years old. He came off the IL on Friday and had been out of action since May 29. Okamoto, who turned 30 last week, has been everything the Blue Jays hoped for and more.